Polli Sigh for the KMT

Dasi, an old trading post on the Dahan River, retains an old Taiwan feel. There are many stores with long histories in the town.

Global Views Survey Research Center with a couple of things out this week that make Ma look less than impressive. First, the satisfaction survey. Ma's approval rating is down to 32%; the negative evaluation stands at 55%. My own theory is that there is a sort of baseline approval for Presidents here that hovers around 30% to which the polls return unless something major is going on.

The legislature also has low evaluations but the public will return them all anyway. I'd love to see those figures for Ma broken out by voter type (KMT voter, DPP voter, independent).

The same center's poll has Ma and Tsai neck and neck at 37.3 vs 37.2, respectively, for 2012. Lots of undecideds. The Taipei Times has an article on it today:

A total of 73.8 percent said they had no knowledge of Tsai’s cross-strait policies, while 52.5 percent agreed that the DPP should adopt a more open policy toward cross-strait affairs.

The poll was conducted with a sample base of 1,229 voters, with a margin of error of 2.8 percent and a confidence level of 95 percent.

Ma’s campaign office spokesperson Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) said the Ma camp would take all poll results into reference, adding that the administration would continue to focus on giving the public a solid performance.

DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the recent indictment of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) could have also contributed to the results of the poll, adding that there was growing public recognition of a political witch hunt against Lee Teng-hui.

Chen added that he believed Tsai’s election prospects would continue to rise, as support for the KMT in central and southern Taiwan weakens.

Speaking on the party’s internal surveys, DPP poll director Chen Chun-lin (陳俊麟) said: “We have also noticed a similar trend in Ma’s support ratings, which are especially pronounced in Taiwan’s central and southern farming districts.”

The question about Ma's views on the future of Taiwan drew some interesting answers -- 5.3% thought he supported independence, while only 33.6% thought he supported annexation. Weird.

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Daily Links

• Amendment of Sense of Congress on F-16 and sub sales. Very supportive.
• Think six Japanese tourists would not want to pay for two taxis?

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